Iran said Saturday that the Strait of Hormuz is closed, citing ceasefire violations after Israel continued deadly strikes in southern Lebanon overnight."

It turns out that the money spigot (counting the value of the ships transiting the Strait of Hormuz) can be turned off at many points. The narrows can be shut not only by Iran, not only by the USN but also by Israel simply by retaliating against Iran's proxy attacks. Iran saw the Strait as insurance against retaliation, but it failed. The geography of the Strait means Iran can significantly hurt others but itself cannot escape chastisement.

In game theory terms it takes 3 keys turned together to open the Strait and stop the war, but it only takes one key to close it. And none of the interests of the 3 keyholders are fully aligned.

nbcnews.com/world/iran/isr…

That is why it is still meaningless at this point to say who ultimately 'won' the Strait War. Too many people have the Veto card for anyone to 'control' it. Not just state actors but even faction leaders and militia leaders inside Iran itself can jump in. For any given deal there is the likelihood that some bearded leader will up and say, "hey I wasn't paid!"

The situation will continue until the situation resolves on the ground. Nothing can be won or even surrendered on the basis of a sheet of paper. Iran's whole business model was built around blackmail but what they didn't count on was others dealing themselves in.

To answer the question of who 'started' or caused the Hormuz crisis is to answer the question of who started the game of navigational blackmail in the first place. For that we must go back to Khomeini and Jimmy Carter or perhaps (if you're bipartisan), the former Shah of Iran.

Long did the blackmail card lie there like a snake, coiled but unused until the first tanker war during the Iran-Iraq conflict made it manifest. It took on the aspect of money during the Obama administration when the Nobel Prize winner paid the ayatollahs pallets of cash to keep out of mischief.

But they did not, using the moneys so conveniently provided to blow up coalition soldiers in Iraq and store up munitions against what would be Oct 7, the consequences of which they assumed would be sheltered from by holding the Strait hostage.

But it betrayed them and has now made the very existence of a chokepoint impossible for the world economy to endure. Now Hormuz is no longer theirs entirely, and although the G7 may earnestly entreat Trump to concede for the sake of the oil, it is no longer entirely in his power to give. It has drawn too many hands. Iran no longer 'controls' Hormuz; say rather it controls them.

Roger Froikin @rlefraim wrote, "I have tried to be neutral in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.

I made it clear that I opposed Putin’s making the disputes an excuse for a military invasion.
1)

I also have made it clear that I objected to Ukrainian policies that led to the war, and that I objected to Ukraine rehabilitating as a hero Stepan Bandera, who murdered 25,000 Jews during his one year in office in the early 1920s.
2)

But this week, Ukraine did it again, rehabilitating another World War II personality who murdered 100,000 Poles and Jews on behalf of the Nazis.

Could this really just be an accident?
3)

Roger Froikin @rlefraim wrote, "REGARDING THE OBAMA PRESIDENTIAL CENTER IN CHICAGO, SOME FAKE NEWS AND WRONG NEWS.
1)

THE MEDIA has been noting that many of the companies that worked in the construction of the building have never been paid, causing some to seriously consider bankruptcy as their only solution.
2)

BUT, THE MEDIA HAS ACCUSED OBAMA. SORRY, OBAMA HATERS, BUT OBAMA IS NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR THIS ONE.

The Committee in charge, hired a contractor, paid the contractor, but the contractor has not paid subcontractors for the work they have done.
3)

In April 1941 Nazi Germany created a puppet state in occupied Yugoslavia called the Independent State of Croatia. Within weeks its leaders — a fascist movement called the Ustaše — had begun one of the most savage campaigns of ethnic extermination of the entire WWII era. They murdered between 300,000 and 700,000 Serbs, Jews, and Roma in four years. Their methods were so brutal that even senior Nazi SS officers filed formal complaints about the violence. This is the genocide almost nobody talks about.

The Independent State of Croatia — known by its Croatian initials NDH — was established on April 10, 1941 following the Nazi invasion of Yugoslavia. It was led by Ante Pavelić, a fascist lawyer who had spent years in exile in Italy and Hungary preparing for this moment. The NDH immediately passed racial laws modeled on the Nuremberg Laws targeting Serbs, Jews, and Roma. Its stated goal was a ethnically pure Croatian state — to be achieved through conversion, expulsion, or extermination.

The centerpiece of the Ustaše extermination program was the Jasenovac concentration camp complex on the Sava River — the largest concentration camp in the Balkans. Unlike Nazi camps which used industrial gas chambers, Jasenovac was characterized by hand to hand killing — knives, mallets, and axes. Prisoners were worked to death, drowned in the Sava River, or killed individually by guards who competed among themselves for kill counts. An estimated 77,000 to 100,000 people were killed there.

Britain is building long-range missiles for Ukraine without U.S. components.

Washington has repeatedly delayed or limited the use of ATACMS and Storm Shadow for strikes inside Russia.

Ukraine gets weapons no one in Washington can veto — FT. 1/

The project is called Brakestop.

The UK unveiled three prototype long-range strike missiles developed by MBDA UK, MGI Engineering and Rotron Aerospace.

After more tests this year, one or more could reach Ukraine by the end of 2026. 2/

The requirement is political as much as technical.

No U.S. components. No dependence on U.S. cartographic data. No American guidance systems.

The UK wants sovereign control over what it gives Ukraine and how Ukraine can use it. 3/

🚨 BREAKING: Keir Starmer is officially set to resign as Prime Minister

Several media reports say he'll outline a resignation timetable on Monday after consulting with his wife and family today

According to The Observer, who is closely plugged into No 10, Starmer now accepts that his time has run out as the majority of Labour MPs now back Andy Burnham

Senior Labour figures believe a "clear statement" could come as early as Monday

It's understood Starmer will announce "a deliberate slow march in good order, as a matter of duty and dignity"

Labour source: "There’s a sadness about it all, of course... He’s come up hard against the reality that the support isn’t there... When the herd moves it moves"

We stopped at a Goodwill in Apache Junction Arizona last night on the way back from Phoenix. Found some pretty good media...Games, albums, CDs and books. I think it's time for a 🧵 about it

First the cds. Three good ones, all in gr8 shape and only 99 cents ea. Couldn't pass them up.

For Heart it's some other most charted singles but not the most beloved by fans. I used to have the cassette! 😊

Up next... the books. Found it funny to find a Mastering Microsoft Works and it looks like it's a DOS version! That's interesting!

And then, who could pass up WordPerfect For Dummies? Again a DOS version.

Roger Froikin @rlefraim wrote, "The Case for Judicial Reform in the State of Israel?

After receiving a lot of questions both from Israelis and Diaspora Jews, it seems there are a lot of people who simply do not understand the issue. So, here it goes.
1)

The real question that has never been fully answered in Israel is what the role of the High Court should be in a Jewish and Democratic Republic, which the State of Israel is intended to be.
2)

Why is this subject important? Because the degree to which a judicial system works well depends on the ability of it to be trusted by the people it is supposed to serve.
3)

Roger Froikin @rlefraim wrote, "In a sense, Erdogan, the president of Turkey, is a greater threat, or even more, to the region and the West as a whole than Iran.

Why?
1)

Since Iran openly says what its goals are, without language etiquette, without pretending to be moderate, while Erdogan, the main global sponsor of the Muslim Brotherhood, the man who gives shelter to terrorist organizations from the leaders of Hamas to Al-Shabab and
2)

Boko Haram, the supporter of the Muslim Brotherhood's government in Tripoli, Libya, and those who added to the militarization of northern Cyprus, parts of Somalia, and more, while building the largest army outside the U.S. and building a massive arms and military industry,
3)

Roger Froikin @rlefraim wrote, "I Have an Interesting Question for Israelis.

I just read an article in which the person writing claimed that Israel faces a serious food problem because food is so much more expensive than in European nations.
1)

He used one example -- chicken, which he said was about ₪38 per kilo.

So I decided to look up what chicken averaged in Italy, Germany, France, and, surprise, it was about the same price per kilo as it is in Israel. Only Portugal was less, almost half.
2)

In any case, I think the prices are too high and that Israel can do better, but people commenting on prices should attack the problem and not post comparisons that are so easily disproven."
3)

Roger Froikin @rlefraim wrote on June 18, 2026: "Today, June 18th, is the opening of the 'Obama Presidential Center.'

In Chicago. I wonder why it is not called a 'library' like others for Clinton, Bush, etc.
1)

Sorry, but the building does not appeal to me. It is, in my opinion, ugly, and I wonder why it was chosen."

But the big issue that I have seen is that subcontractors in the building process have not been paid, and several are saying they will have to declare bankruptcy.
2)

One plumbing contractor claims he is owed $4 million and that the loans he took out to pay for employees and materials will go into default soon.

No, the ceremony is "invitation only," and no, I was not invited. Anyone surprised?
3)

Most people have heard or used the term UNCLE TOM when we refer to a sell-out, but did you know that the inference is totally wrong.

The real Uncle Tom was a hero, Josiah Henson, was an abolitionist who helped slaves escape among other great things.

A THREAD

Uncle Tom was a man:
—who refused to beat black women.
—who refused to tell on other slaves.
—who would put cotton in other slaves’ bags at night, so that they wouldn’t get beat!
—who helped 100 slaves get free long before the underground railroad.

Josiah Henson was born into slavery in 1789 in Charles County, Maryland. Growing up he watched his father receive beatings for standing up to his slave owner and also witnessed his father's ear being severed as part of the punishment and also his father being sold off.